Prince George voters “candi-date” the candidates

Prince George City council candidates were playing the field this evening at a “Candi-dating” session.

The session, hosted by the PG Public Library, invited residents to have a one on one with candidates in the speed-dating style of two-minute rounds.

MyPGNow asked attendees what they were asking council hopefuls:

Weston McGee asked candidates if they supported putting Sodium Hypochlorite, a compound used in water purification, in the water system. He said that question was, partially, to test candidates.

“Most of them didn’t know what it was, but I thought it was very good that they admitted they didn’t know what it was and asked questions.”

He also thought it was important to ask hopefuls how often they took the bus.

“None of them used it on a daily basis, but some of them use the transit system fairly regularly, like once a week,” said McGee.

According to him, if a candidate uses the bus, they’re more likely to increase funding for transit.

Paul Strickland just came to speak to two candidates, he wanted to ask about library funding and park maintenance. He said in previous years, council was considering cutting funding from those services and he didn’t want to see that happen again.

Overall, Strickland said he was “favourably impressed’ by the answers he got, but said the new council would likely be similar to the last.

Karen Mohr, who’s only been in the city for just over a month, came to find out what the major issues are in Prince George, and where candidates stood. She said the main issue she heard from candidates was aging infrastructure.

“Even I could see how much construction has been going on,” said Mohr.

“I think the ones I found the most engaging was green initiatives for sustainability; backyard gardens, farming, community engagement for being more self-sustainable as a northern community that could be cut off in the event of an emergency.”

One attendee, who wished to remain anonymous, was particularly interested in what candidates wanted to achieve.

“There was a lot of focus on the needle problems. There were not really brand new ideas from anyone. There was alot of talk of infrastructure, homelessness, care for the elderly, but I didn’t hear any new ideas.”

“I personally feel sometimes there is a time when there needs to be more innovation and different ideas in our city, if you stay on the council too long, it can get stale.”

This was the third of three all candidates forums, the last will be held at UNBC on October 16th.